Slipping Away
by MissNata13
Summary: Nothing will ever be the same. Caitlyn/Shane Oneshot


**So I lied. I have a oneshot to post up, but I promise this is the last update of 2008. **

**Pinky promise.**

**I don't know how I got around to write this. I took a shot a melodramatic oneshot and I hope I don't make a fool out of myself for this. I just thought I would be…somewhat cute. Thanks to suburbs for implanting the idea of Shane and Caitlyn. I think they make an adorable couple.**

**ENJOY!**

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Slipping Away

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There she was. Caitlyn Gellar laying on the reclined bed looking out the snowy window. There were tubes that tangled and intertwined to a monitor that beeped occasionally. Mitchie gripped on to my arm restricting herself from breaking down. I don't blame her. When we received the call that our best friend had terminal cancer I didn't know how to react. A part of me force me to believe it was a joke. That at any moment Caitlyn was going to call me and tell me it was all a lie. Some stupid prank her ex-boyfriend pulled over us. But it wasn't.

Beep.

She turned to us and her face glowed. Caitlyn didn't look like she was wasting away. She looked perfectly healthy. Her cheeks were a soft rose and her lips curved into the slightest red smile I was used to seeing. Her head was still full of that thick chestnut hair of hers. There was no way this girl was battling some mutation. No.

"Hey!" She lifted a skinny arm and waved at us. Mitchie and I smiled weakly at her.

"We heard…" That was all I managed to say. My throat became uncomfortably tight.

Caitlyn pursed her lips, "Oh c'mon. Don't turn on the water works. I've had enough of that from my mother."

Confused, I looked over at Mitchie who had a stream of tears rolling down her cheek.

It had been a while since I've talked to Mitchie. After we broken up several years ago I've never had the courage to make a truce and remain friends. But here we are now, coming to the rescue of our friend.

It wasn't fair. Caitlyn was already going through a low in her life and now this?

I grabbed a napkin from a side table and handed it to Mitchie."Thanks." She whispered.

Beep.

"Gosh, I wish I could go out in the snow." Caitlyn wished, "How 'bout it, Shane? Let's have a snowball fight."

I stood there unable to talk.

Caitlyn frowned, "Argh, you guys suck."

Mitchie phone rang. She looked at the screen.

"I have to take this. I'll be back." She announced before she left.

Caitlyn turned to me and smiled again. I don't know she could appear so happy when she's…

Beep.

"You want to watch tv with me?" Caitlyn held up the remote, "It's just basic cable but they still have MTV…and the Disney Channel."

She scooted over and patted the empty space she made on her bed for me.

"Sure."

I mechanically walked over and stiffly laid next to her. She quickly turned on the tv and began to watch a documentary on polar bears. Caitlyn made herself comfortable as she glued her eyes on the screen. I had a bit of trouble concentrating. I zoned out. The smell of the disinfected floors and the scent of the clean linens make me sick. It was intoxicating. Sure enough, Caitlyn could smell how horrible this hospital reeked. Almost like...dea-

Beep.

"Quit it."

Caitlyn turned off the tv and threw the remote at her feet. I sniffed back some tears.

"Quit what?" I asked.

"I've had enough of every single person that comes in here and bawls like a baby at me." Caitlyn raised her voice. "For once, can't I just have a normal day with my friends?"

I shook my head, "It's not possible."

She crossed her arms, "Get out."

Surprised at her demand, I quickly got off her bed. If she didn't want me around I don't want to go against he wishes.

I neared the door.

"Shane!" She called out. She looked disturbed. "Quit it!"

Now she's confusing.

"I don't know what I'm doing."

She clenched her jaw, "You never used to listen to me."

I don't see how that applies here.

She continued, "I don't want to be treated as if I've changed! I haven't! I'm still the same old Cait."

I shifted my weight, "I didn't mean to-"

"But you still did it." She cut me off.

Beep.

"Cait," I began, "If you want to pretend there's nothing wrong with you, that's up to you but I'm not going to pretend that in a few months you're not going to be…here."

Her glow was gone. Unshed tears began to weld up in her eyes. I felt like an ass. I just made Caitlyn cry. I'm an idiot. There wasn't nothing more I wanted to see than to see that smile back on her face. Lines formed around her eyes, lines I've never seen before. In fact, there was something about her that didn't seem right. Details I've never pointed out.

Caitlyn looked abnormally skinny. Every inch of her exposed skin looked a pale yellow. It just made me appreciate that she still looked beautiful when she smiled at me. I didn't know much about her cancer, only that they diagnosed her weeks ago and ever since she's been in here.

"I know that." She said. "Forget it."

She slumped back into her bed, sulking.

I ran back to her side, wondering if there was anything I could do.

"I'm not going to forget it." I urged.

Her brown eyes flickered to my face. Then, her face sprouted into that glow again.

"Awesome, now rub my feet Shane." She uncovered her bony feet. I made a face. She's made the same joke since she's known me and I've never caved in to her demand.

"No thanks." I grumbled.

She laughed.

So this is what Caitlyn wants. Something normal so she could grasp on. I'm sure the parade of tears must have gotten tiring. Caitlyn hoped for a soul that wouldn't see a dying girl but a girl full of life. She didn't need me soaking up in sorrow for her disease.

"So you and Michie, eh?" She nudged me with her elbow.

"No," I softly said, "I don't think we'll ever be that close again."

Caitlyn furrowed her brows, "Shame, I would have loved to see Mitchie with a kid."

I'm assuming she meant Mitchie and me with a kid but that was impossible.

Beep.

"Cait, do you mind telling me something?" I asked.

"Not at all."

"What's it like to know that you're…" I tried to hold back the tears Caitlyn didn't want to see. I quickly wiped them away.

"Sorry." I apologized.

"It's fine."

I controlled myself and sighed, "How about some of that tv."

"Sure, I was dying to see what happens to those polar bears."

Ah, Caitlyn and her morbid sense of humor.

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Mitchie had to leave for the second time. She hugged her friend until she could squeeze the life out of her. She unwilling left us alone again. My eyes averted back to the tv which blinked back at me in streaks of unimportant colors.

"It's not as bad as you think."

"Huh?"

Caitlyn shyly bit her lips, "Dying. There are things worth living for but there's also things worth dying for."

"What's worth dying for when you still have a whole life ahead of you?"

"I can't say I had a whole life planned out for me. Who am I to demand a long life? I'll take what I get." Caitlyn took the remote and lowered the volume of the tv. "We don't deserve living as long as God permits."

"So how is it worth it?" I asked again.

Beep.

"Seeing you and Mitchie again. I thought you two would never talk to each other again." She confessed.

I shook my head. She's a saint. She would willingly leave this world just so she could see me and Mitchie talking again?

"Why?"

"You deserve it."

"You can't say I deserve Mitchie when you said you don't deserve living." I spat back, harsher than I thought.

"Well you were so happy with her." Caitlyn frowned again, "I just thought it would be nice…"

She blushed and turned away quickly. I didn't understand her motives. Why would she want to see us again?

"I liked you a lot, you know." Caitlyn faced me again.

"What?"

"I never wanted to admit it out loud, especially since Mitchie was so outspoken about her feels about you. I felt like a bad friend if I ever admitted that." She laughed at her own flaws, "And you looked way happier with her. You always did."

I sat still, listening to her outpour.

"But I should stop."

I hovered over her body, "Yes, you should stop."

And to make sure Caitlyn did, I kissed her and I could feel her slipping away.

Beep.

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